Richmond Kickers

Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as an United States Interregional Soccer League (now USL League Two) expansion team, which at the time, was the fourth tier of soccer in the United States.

The club's majority owner is 22 Holdings, LLC, and its minority owners are Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club and the Ukrop family, a prominant family from the Greater Richmond Region who founded the Ukrop's grocery chain. The company serves as the club's primary uniform sponsor. Darren Sawatzky has been the club's manager since 2019, taking over for the late-David Bulow. The club's Director of Soccer, Leigh Cowlishaw, coached the team from 2000 until 2018, making him one of the longest tenured professional soccer coaches in American soccer history. The Kickers play their home league matches at City Stadium, with a reduced capacity of 9,000 seats for most matches. City Stadium has been the club's primary home since 1995. The club has two primary supporters groups: the Red Army and the Scuffletown Social Club, both of whom sit in Section O of the stadium. Richmond has rivalries with fellow Mid-Atlantic and Deep South soccer clubs including the Charleston Battery and Greenville Triumph. The Kickers had a intrastate rivalry with the Virginia Beach Mariners, where the two sides competed for the James River Cup until the Mariners folded in 2009.

The Kickers played their inaugural match on May 8, 1993, winning 1–0 over the now defunct-Columbia Spirit. Richmond has won eight trophies over the course of their history including four regular season titles across the second, third, and fourth divisions, and three playoffs championships across the third and fourth divisions.